Gun violence has long been a pressing issue in Alabama, and the recent tragic shooting at Tuskegee University has reignited urgent calls for action.

Leading the response, Alabama Values, in partnership with The Flourish, brought together leaders, advocates, and community groups through their "Justice in Focus" initiative. The effort aims to reshape public safety by prioritizing prevention, equity, and community healing over traditional statistics-driven approaches.

Leroy Maxwell Jr., managing pertner of the Maxwell Tillman law firm, emphasized the need to revisit state policies on firearm access, noting that current laws make it too easy for dangerous weapons to circulate.

"Try to enact counter legislation that's reasonable and sensible," Maxwell urged. "The idea that someone in this state can have a silencer, where the only point of it is to sneak up behind someone and kill them, there's no sort of self-defense value to it."

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Alabama had the 12th-highest gun death rate among Black people in the country in 2022. Advocates made clear legislative reform is just one part of the solution, emphasizing the need for smarter laws to reduce harm without creating unintended consequences.

Legislation, however, is only part of the puzzle.

Jacques Austin, a licensed counselor for the group Brother Let's Talk, said addressing emotional and mental health challenges is equally important. He explained how communities often struggle to process grief and conflict constructively, which can escalate tensions and violence over time.

"When emotions run high and there are no resources to help people process them like counseling or community education, communication can break down," Austin explained. "Instead of open, empathetic dialogue, people may communicate defensively or aggressively."

Uche Bean, director of community safety initiatives for the City of Birmingham, believes when it comes to addressing gun violence, creating safe communities starts with treating it as a public health crisis. She said breaking cycles of violence requires intentional investment in community.

"The comprehensive approach is not just focused on overall crime, it's community safety," Bean emphasized. "It is making sure that in every instance of these cycles of violence that we're providing support, resources and funding."

Bean added public safety is not just about enforcement, it is about intervening to stop violence before it starts.


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Nevada's Democratic lawmakers are trying again to advance gun-control legislation, including measures to ban firearms from election sites and prohibit anyone younger than 21 from purchasing or possessing a semiautomatic shotgun or assault rifle.

Asm. Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, said despite similar efforts falling to vetoes in 2023, it is an issue she will not stop fighting for. For Jauregui it is personal. She is a survivor of the 2017 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, which claimed the lives of 60 people.

Gov. Joe Lombardo defended his veto of the polling place gun ban in 2023 because of a ghost gun provision he felt was unconstitutional. Jauregui pointed out this time around, that component isn't there.

"I am hoping that the governor will sign my bill because he has even said in interviews that he agrees election sites are sensitive locations," Jauregui pointed out. "This is a stand-alone, clean bill now that only impacts election sites. And I don't know anyone who doesn't believe that everyone should exercise their most fundamental right to vote without fear of intimidation."

Jauregui added she hopes her Republican colleagues can get on board. In 2023, both of her bills passed on party lines. She called the pieces of legislation common sense and believes the issue should be nonpartisan.

Jauregui noted in Nevada, one has to be 21 years old to purchase a handgun, therefore it therefore makes no sense when someone turns 18 they can buy a semiautomatic firearm. Assembly Bill 245 would seek to change it.

"We know that the day the Uvalde shooter turned 18, the day he turned 18, he walked into a firearms dealer and he bought two semiautomatic firearms that he then used to go into Robb Elementary School and create that horrible incident that so many families are struggling to get through now," Jauregui recounted.

Jauregui emphasized while Lombardo was not present the night of the shooting on October 1, 2017, she said she knows he was witness to the carnage that happened afterward as sheriff.

"I hope that when these bills make it to his desk, he remembers the devastation that guns cause to our community and that he finds it in himself to stand up to the gun lobby and to protect Nevadans," Jauregui concluded.


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Support for Governor Tony Evers's first statewide Office of Violence Prevention is gaining momentum, as some safety experts and advocates say they're hopeful it'll save lives. Reggie Moore heads community safety at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He formerly led Milwaukee's violence prevention office during a critical period following a 70-percent increase in homicides in 2015. He believes people understand the intent and potential for offices like these.

"The fact that cities are getting smarter on crime and the impact that these types of interventions can have in addressing violence before it happens, I think is something that people understand that we should be doing."

He says that starts with a public health approach to preventing gun violence. It's that approach, he adds, that contributed to Milwaukee's four-year decline in homicides and nonfatal shootings beginning in 2016. He adds that was one of the biggest declines in the country at the time.

While violence prevention offices are not new, larger investments in them are. Moore says in 2016, when he started leading the Milwaukee office, few existed. Now, he says there are more than seventy across the country. Moore says the historic levels of federal investments is promising, since law enforcement can't and shouldn't do this work alone.


"For hundreds of years the country has taken a criminal justice approach solely to this issue, but understanding the fact that this is also a public health crisis, and hearing the governor declare this the year of the kid, I think it's timely given the fact that since 2020 gun violence has become the leading cause of death of children."

Earlier this month, Governor Evers announced he's directing 10-million dollars to the Office of Violence Prevention. The funds are from the American Rescue Plan Act and will provide grants to school districts, law enforcement agencies and nonprofits to help reduce gun violence. It's still unclear whether the Trump administration will impact federal funds for programs like these.





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President Donald Trump has been busy signing executive orders since his inauguration.

Gun violence prevention advocates in Minnesota hope he isn't aggressive in undoing recent work to keep communities safer.

The White House website for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, created under the Biden administration, recently went dark.

Staffers insist sudden online changes are a formality as they retool under new leadership, hinting that landing pages for key topics will be restored.

But Maggiy Emery, executive director of the group Protect Minnesota, said she doesn't feel reassured much of the office's mission will be maintained.

"We were finally seeing some of those rates of gun violence go down," said Emery, "you know, especially here in Minnesota."

Gun violence deaths in Minnesota were down 5% in 2023, the last year for available numbers.

And the national Brady organization credits the Office of Gun Violence Prevention for supporting the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in shutting down more than 800 rogue gun dealers in the U.S.

While the future is uncertain for this White House initiative, Trump has dismantled a new school safety committee that included parents of school shooting victims.

Trump administration officials say they want to prioritize national security matters.

But Emery said despite recent progress, gun violence is still a public health crisis in the U.S.

She added that the initiative under President Joe Biden was bringing to light how rural areas affected.

"We know that the Office of Violence Prevention on the federal level was looking at what can we do to reduce rates of gun violence," said Emery, "not only in urban areas, but in rural areas where folks are really the most impacted in Minnesota. You know, guidances and legislation around safe storage is now looking more unlikely."

More than 70% of gun deaths in Minnesota are from suicides, and Emery said most are in rural areas.

If federal solutions fall by the wayside, she said she hopes Minnesota lawmakers pass a state law for safe gun storage this year.

In Trump's first term, bump stocks - the rapid-fire gun accessories - were banned. However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down that order.




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